Improving Access to Laboratory Monitoring in Individuals Living with Serious Mental Illness

Safe prescribing for persons with severe mental illness requires laboratory monitoring for psychotropic drug levels and metabolic side effects. Barriers to appropriate and timely monitoring increase when clients must obtain phlebotomy services at a separate facility. This quality improvement project was conducted within a program for assertive community treatment (PACT). Specific aims were to increase access to laboratory testing, improve efficiency, and lower costs by implementing on-site specimen collection. Outcomes, measured three months post-implementation, indicate that over half of all labs were obtained on-site, clients and staff were pleased with increased efficiencies, and costs were reduced by 37%.